Sony Broadens PlayStation 3 Features

TV-Recording Device
To Be Offered in Europe;
New Ways to Use Portable

By

Yukari Iwatani Kane

Updated Aug. 24, 2007 12:01 a.m. ET

TOKYO -- Sony Corp. said it plans to sell a device in Europe that lets users record television programs onto their PlayStation 3 videogame consoles and then transfer them to the PlayStation Portable as the company aims to boost lagging sales of both devices.

The product, called PlayTV, was announced at a European game conference on Wednesday along with other new PSP bells and whistles, including ways to turn the portable game player into a satellite-based navigation system and an instant-message machine. These new features...